Metallic railway-tie.



F. E. FRENCH.

, METALLIC RAILWAY TIE.

APPLICATION man Aue.2a, 191e.

Patented Jan. 23, 1917.

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FRHNKUN E. FRENCH PATENT OFFICE.

onrvnn m. cas, or o'rwnr., INDLANA.

Lana-6112.,`

METALLIC RAILWAY-TIE.

s Specification of Letters Patent. f

`.empi'marienalea aug'ust 2a, 191s. 'semina nages.

Be it'. known that LIFRANKLIN EQFRESQH; a citizen. ofthe United States,residing at Princeton, in the county of Gibson and State vof Indiana,have invented certain new andv useful Improvements in kMetallicRailway-Ties, of whichthe following is a. specification, reference beinghad' to the` accompanying drawings` y s ThisV invention comprehendsv[certain new and useful improvements in metallic rail-k wa)v ties, and,it hasgfor its ,primary objectlav durable and strong construction of'tieof t'hischarac-terI` the parts of which may be ver)v Ieasilymade andreadily assembled land j properly adjusted according'to the gageV oftrack desired. and to securely hold the ltrack g rails in place` Y Afurther object means forliolding the track rails in position without theuse of Spikes or similar fasten! ing devices, the. parts being soarranged that both rails may be simultaneously clamped, and releasedwhen desired and in a very quick and easy manner. And the invention alsoaims to generallyv improve devices of this class so as to render themmore useful and commercially desirable. g

With these and, other objects in view, as willmore fully appear as thedescription proceeds. the invention consists in certain constructions,y'arrangements and 4'combinations of the parts that I shall hereinaftermore fully describe and claim.

- For afull. understanding of the j *j are in the form of plates.' asshown. having;vr

reference is to be had tothe following'd'escription and accompanying;drawing, in

which` I .y

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a railway tie embodying thegimprovementsof this in-' vention, Fig.t.2 is 4a longitudinal sectional view thereofon the line 2-2 of Fig. l, and

Figs. 3 and 4 arertransverse sections on their" lines 3 3 and 4--1 ofFig. 1, respectively. Corresponding and vlike parts are referred to inthe following description and designated in all of the views of theaccompanying drawing by like reference characters.

The body portion A of my improved metallic railway tie is constructed incomplemental sections 1 and 2. said sections be ing hollow, as shown,and preferably of a substantially semic'ircular shape, 4although it isto be understood that the invention is' j of theinventionis'a tief ofthis character embodying improved to the desired gage of the track Vnotf'liniited in this regard. Thesectionsjl andi) are formed at theireudsivitli transverse` webs 3 wherebyvv said ends-are closed', andconcrete or ordinary ballast may be rreceived withinltlie hollowportions oft-lie sections so esto-securely hold'it in'jilafce;Preferably each section is formed midway of its' I' ends across itsbottom with 'transverse brace' l, preferably locatedtlirectlyunder therail'seat. `f l' f 65r The sections 1 laiidfQvof tliejt-ie .are formedat their adjoining ends with longitudinally" extending arms 5 whichoverlap; as shown. to form a joint vinrlthe nature'ota scarf joint, theoverlapping arms forming con- 70 tinua-tions of tliensectionsat'thesides there? j lof and each pair, ofarms being fornied witlimvvf.

bolt openings Gf to receive bolts 7 borsimilai,y `fastening devices.y feach arm being prefers1:f4 ably provided with a plurality oflgtliese-75openings Givhereby thetwo sections inavgbe adjusted one relative to the'other according i Each secti'on'ofrthe tiej'is.'frmelonits` Y uppersurface and intei'iiiediate the ends 80 thereof, with a transverselyextending una* 4dercut: shoulder S designed to# engage the' outei baseflange of ya raill 9 andthe sections", are formed, contiguous totheshouldersl j with flat rail supporting surfaces 10ft ies sides of whichare formed ,with longitudif --nally` extendii'ig:v recessesglii; formingside tianges lglas ellenrivvilliisttedfin the draw-v v j i f their sideedges turned downward ,andy iirvward to form 'retaining tianges 11engz'iging`v retained and guided for a'lngitudin'a'l"slid fing movementupon the ties.,`t Rachi-ail yenlk gaging member or plate'lSisforr'nedaAfJts outer end with a projecting lip'lfwlii'cy is lotpreferably beveled on its under; 4'si'iirface-`r s indicatedat 16. forengagementwith/thai ner base flanges'of the rails.. j*

The members or plates 13 aieifoririedat their inner ends withpreferably/integral y'10.5 stem or rods 17 which are mounted inlongitudinal alinement with each other, as shown, and provided at theiradjoining ends with screw threads for engagement by a turn buckle 19,the screw threads of the reiic spective stems or rods 17 being right'and left hand threads, as clea ly il ustrated the drawing, wherebymovementv of the turn buckle in one direction will draw the plates 5oi'V members 13 toward each other o'ut of engagement with the rails 9and an opposite movement of the'turn buclrle will yforcathe plates orrail engaging members firmly into en gement 4with t e inner base il ofthfl rails, whereby the latter will be y held in position in between thebeveled lips land t e undercut shoulders 8.' If desired, the turn buckle19 may be provided at its ends with locking nuts and it may be made intwo sections bolted't gether, as at 21, so that an insulating substancemav be inserted between the two sections of the turn buckle for thepurpose of aisting in insulating the tie. 2o From the foregoingdescription connection with the accompaying drawing, the operation of mimprov railway tie will be apparent. n .the practical use of thedevice,v after the two sections 1 and 2 of the body portion A of the tieare coupled together, as required, according to the desired gage or thetrack, the rails 9 are engaged at their outer base anges with the unercut shoulders 8 and b operating the turn buckle 19 iii/the requidirection, the rail engaging .members or platee 13 are moved out-`wardly lupon the ties so that the lips 15 engage' with the inner basedan of the rails, andthe latter are securely he d in position.lPreferably the arms' 5 are of a width less than the height o f thesections 1 and 2, whereby an open space is rovided for the v convenientand easy manipulation of the turn buckle 19.

While the accompanying dra-wing illustrates what4 I believe to be thepreferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be un'- derstood that theinvention is not limited thereto but that various changes may be made inthe construction, arrangements and proportions of the parts withoutdepart' from the scope of t e invention as c aim What is claimed, is:

1. A railway tie of the character described, com rising complementalsections formed 'at t eir inner ends with overlapping arms, means foradjustably connectin said arms at different extensions, for t e purposespecified, the sections being formed with rail supporting surfaces andat the outer ends thereof with undercut shoulders extendingtransversely, rail engagin plates slidable upon and .retained on sairail supporting ent adjustments lengthwise of the tie, thesections beiformed with rail supporting surfaces, an means for holding the rails onsaid surfaces.

3. A tie ofthe character described comprising complemental sections eachformed with a transversely extending undercut shoulder designed toengage the outer base flange of a track rail and with a rail sup portinsurface extend' inwardly from said s oulder, the side e ges of said railsupporting surfaces being provided with longitudinal recesses forminglongitudinally extending flanges, rail engaging plates movable on saidrail supporting surfaces and formed with downwardly and inwardly turnedside flanges enga 'ng the flanges of said surfaces, the said p stesbeing formed at their inner ends with threaded stems and at their outerends with beveled lips adapted to engage the inner base flange of therails,

and a turn buckle engaging the threaded.

stems, as and for the purpose set forth.

4.-. A tie of the character described, comprising complemental sectionsformed at one end with longitudinally extending side arms, said sidearms bein of a width less than the height of the sections, andthe armsbeing arranged inoverlap ing relation to each other, means for ho dingsaid arms connected together, the sections being formed with railsupporting surfaces, rail engaging plates movable upon said surfaces anformed at their adjoinin ends with longitudinally extendingthreatfedstems extending over the space between and above said arms, anda turn buckle receivable in said space and engaging said stems, for thepurpose specified.

In testimony whereof I hereunto ailix my signature in the resence of twowitnesses.

FRAh N EDWIN FRENCH.

Witnesses:

J. W. Rrrcmr, H. Barnim.

